I do enjoy Italian food! So when my daughter and son-in-law booked dinner for us at Azzurro in Eltham, I was looking forward to the meal as well as the company. The restaurant is quite small and very busy but everything is spotlessly clean and the service is attentive, but not intrusive.

Azzurro in Eltham is a family run restaurant and the food is freshly cooked to order, so it is not fast food. But it is delicious food. My husbad and son-in law shared a garlic bread pizza for starters while my daughter and I nibbled on some marinated olives.

For our main courses my son-in- law and I chose pizza while my daughter had pasta and my husband tucked into an Italian lamb dish. Only my husband had room for a pudding and enjoyed the tiramasu and we all had teas and coffees to round off the meal.

The restaurant is not austentatious, but it is good value. I highly recommend Azzurro, if you are in the area.

On a recent trip to Italy, my husband and I found ourselves in the gritty student neighbourhood of San Lorenzo.This district is immediately east of Termini train station and is where we found the boutique restaurant that is Zero Zero100 Via del Verano, 27, Roma, Italy. It was close to our hotel, the thoroughly unsatisfactory Hotel Vibel, reviewed on this site at https://hotelandrestaurantreviews.com/2016/10/25/hotel-vibel-viale-dello-scalo-s-lorenzo-97-rome-italy/.

The staff at ZeroZero100 are all quite young, very polite and extremely efficient. They are certainly kept busy as a wide variety food and drinks are available both at lunch time and in the evenings. Access is good if you have mobility issues. We only visited this restaurant at dinner time, but we liked it so much we went back three times during our short trip.

The restaurant offers an a la carte menu, but it also offers a buffet. The system for calculating the cost of your buffet meal is ingenious. The cost includes a drink, for example beer at 6 euros or a (large) gin and tonic at 7 euros then the buffet brings your bill to 10 or 11 euros respectively. We were amazed by the selection of salads, breads and pizzas on the buffet so we never saw past that.

Salads are continually refreshed: platters included cold meats, fresh vegetables, eggs, tuna and grains as well as breads, quiches and mini pizzas. Above the salad bar a wide selection of paiizas were on offer. These included some without cheese, magherita pizza, various vegetarian pizzas as well as pepperoni, chicken and tuna. The pizzas were constantly freshed, like the salads and everything was delicious.

The atmosphere in ZeroZero100 was great. There was lively music, but not so loud as to prevent conversation. It was relaxed and even when the place was busy we never felt forgotten or hurried. I highly recommend ZeroZero100 and look forward to dining there in the future.

My husband and I stopped for lunch at Al Cardello, Via del Cardello, Rome, Italy. It is a delightful little restaurant on the corner of Via del Cardello. It was very busy but we were shown to a little table in the sunshine.

We had spent all morning at the Forum. What a lot there was to see! However, we were glad the restaurant was close. By the time we got to Al Cardello both of us welcomed a long drink of water. I also chose a soft drink and my husband had a beer. There were other tourists, but also lots of Italian customers in the restaurant. I always think it is a good sign if local people use a restaurant.

We chose an insalata caprese to share as our starter. I had a spaghetti pomodoro for my main course, while my husband opted for the house special of fettuccine with meatballs. Everything was made to order and there was no rush. The salad was served with brown bread. It was very tasty.

It was lovely to relax and spend an afternoon in this friendly, family run restaurant. The restaurant clearly does no believe in nouvelle cuisine: the portions were a very good size. We both enjoyed our meals very much. We were hungry and appreciated the hearty portions.

After we were finished, as we were enjoying the atmosphere so much, we decided to extend our stay with a coffee. What a good coffee! When we went inside the restaurant to pay our bill, we were amazed at the amount of seating inside. Al Cardello is a real little tardis and it has a beautiful counter of hanging meats, fresh fruit and a variety of cheeses.

If you visit Rome, I highly recommend Al Cardello. I am sure you will get as warm a welcome and as good a meal as we did.

We went to London, England to visit family and managed to arrange that everybody was free to join us for a meal on the same evening. We played safe and booked an Italian Restaurant, Jamie’s Italian, 5 More London Place, London, England that we could enter from our hotel, Hilton London Tower Bridge Hotel, 5 More London Place, Tooley Street London SE1 2BY, England. The hotel is reviewed at https://hotelandrestaurantreviews.com/2015/03/02/hilton-london-tower-bridge-hotel-5-more-london-place-tooley-street-london-se1-2by-england/.

The ambience of this Jamie’s Italian is relaxed and friendly. The service from the moment we arrived to the moment we left was very good, but not quite as good as the service par excellence that I experienced at Jamie’s Italian Threadneedle Street, London. This is not a criticism, just a comparison.

We were seated in a large booth and started our meal with olives and a delicious variety of breads. My husband and son-in-law sampled the beers while my daughters and I indulged by following a gin and tonic with a bottle of Prosecco. We chose a variety of main courses. My husband had a turkey milanese. This was a turkey steak stuffed with prosciutto and fontal cheese, breadcrumbed and topped with a fried egg and black truffle with a side of fries. He enjoyed it very much.

My son-in-law chose the Gennaro’s chargrilled & butterflied chicken breast which was served with peas, beans and courgette with a hazelnut and lovage pesto. He also had a side portion of fries. My elder daughter chose a JI superfoods salad with chicken. The salad comprised fresh avocado, roasted beets, pulses & grains, sprouting broccoli, pomegranate & spicy seeds with harissa dressing & cottage cheese. She really enjoyed it. My younger daughter and I both chose veggie tagliatellie bolognese. It was a lovely recipe with an agù of porcini mushrooms, tomatoes, pulses, herbs & garlic with Bella Lodi & herby breadcrumbs: very tasty indeed.

Only my husband made it to desert. He had the Tiramisu which he said was the best he had tasted. We rounded off the meal with a variety of teas and coffees. We had a delicious meal in relaxing surroundings. I recommend Jamie’s Italian, 5 More London Place, London, England and would use this restaurant again.

For many months there had been nowhere in this village to go for dinner in the evening. So it was with much interest that the community watched the re-furbishment of the building that became the local pizza and Italian Restaurant Rare Flour.

The restaurant is small: normally set up for 14 covers but can hold up to 20 people if a group books. Indeed, it is always better to book a table if you plan to sit in. There is a take-away option too. However, as all the meal are made to order, even the pizza bases are made to order, so nothing is quick. Rare Flour is not a restaurant to visit for a quick meal.

The pizza oven is visible from the diningroom. It is interesting to watch the pizzas being prepared and cooked. The menu at Rare Flour also includes pasta dishes made with home-made pasta. The home-made burgers are also served on home-made buns. Indeed, even the condiments and deserts are home-made. This is all very unusual for such a small establishment, but attention to detail is evident throughout.

Rare Flour is a simple, bright and stylish restaurant in which my family and friends have enjoyed good, freshly made food. It also has a full alcohol license offering spirits, beers and wine. There are vegetarian choices and the access is good for those with mobility challenges. Rare Flour is a lovely local establishment and I highly recommend it.

I have been using Il Castello, an Italian restaurant in Edinburgh, Scotland for many years, ever since a friend introduced me to it. Il Castello sits in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle and has been and remains a great favourite of our family. We often choose it for our Christmas or birthday celebrations. Disabled access is easy and the waiters are very attentive.

On our last visit we were offered a table that was convenient for my disabled guest and drinks were served promptly. Then our orders were taken. Starters arrived quite quickly. The home made soup was delicious and the salads crisp and fresh. Our main courses were varied. The chicken was tasty and moist: steaks were exactly as ordered. The pizza was delicious, but too big to finish and the pasta also very enjoyable.

We did not eat dessert as we could not have done it justice. However we had teas and coffees that were freshly made and a fine end to a lovely meal. We have been many times before and will no doubt be back again. My advice is book early to avoid disappointment.